I started my autoimmune journey in 1984 & just found out in Jan 2019 I have sjogren's. I had an extensive infection in 1983 after surgery w/ the largest amount of antibiotics ever given in the history of this hospital (really messed my stomach up) & I also had mercury poison in 1985 (Methyl mercury poison) from a decayed copper filling. I know that the combination of these 2 illnesses brought on autoimmune illness. I am still in shock that I just found out this year that I am dealing w/ autoimmune disease. But I have chosen natural route w/ functional med dr. & have had good results so far. I must add this is not the 1st time going natural route as I did so whenever I had BID episodes in the past. I really think I had an overgrowth of candidia in my gut & sinuses that really caused this to explode for me. I have leaky gut from all the antibiotics & from all the leakyness I have discovered that I have autoimmune flare ups when my stomach acts up. Have changed my diet to include protein shakes every morning, took oil of oregano & grapefruit seed oil for 2 months morning & afternoon & have had great results w/ facial swelling going down, eye irritation almost gone & fatigue 70% better. I have to stay away from all sugar (except a small portion of fruit), red meat & gluten. I have NEVER taken an autoimmune meds as I believe these will mess me up even more! I can not stress the importance of seeing a functional wellness dr. or natural path dr. or even a nutritionist. I have been slammed w/ illness for most of my adult life but am sticking to the natural route as it works if you find the right help. One last thing, western med. says you have to me on their meds. to feel better & it may mask symptoms but investing in a cure, getting to the heart of an autoimmune disease is hard work but can be done. I hope at the least this gives you some something to be encouraged about.